Dragon
Li Shiquan, Chinese, 20th century
20th century
Scroll; colored inks on silk
Overall: 119 1/2 × 49 3/4 in. (303.5 × 126.4 cm)
Image: 80 1/4 × 41 5/8 in. (203.8 × 105.7 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Dorothy Marion Levitt Beskind and D. Herbert Beskind, Class of 1936
P.957.137
Geography
Place Made: China, East Asia, Asia
Period
1000-1400
Object Name
Watercolor
Research Area
Watercolor
On view
Inscriptions
Signed: Li Shiquan
Label
In Chinese mythology, the dragon’s physical characteristics combine various real animals. It is believed to have the horns of a stag, the body of a snake, the eyes of a rabbit, the scales of a carp, the antlers of a deer, the claws of an eagle, the pads of a tiger, and the ears of an ox. Li Shiquan portrays his dragon with these legendary features on a large scale using wide brushstrokes to emphasize its enormous size. Here, it fills the sky and controls the thunder, in accordance with the myth.
Artist signature
李石泉写予 大好山中
Portrayed by Li Shiquan in the middle of the Daho Mountain
From the 2024 exhibition Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art, curated by Haely Chang, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art
Course History
ARTH 64, The Japanese Painting Tradition, Allen Hockley, Spring 2014
Exhibition History
Attitude of Coexistence: Non-humans in East Asian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 26-June 29, 2025.
Director's Choice, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 10-July 10, 1966.
Provenance
Dorothy Marion Levitt Beskind (1917-2014) and David Herbert Beskind (1915-2015), Class of 1936, New York, New York; given to present collection, 1957.
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